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I don't think it was written by anyone other than the kid. Here's why. When I think back to my high school and think of the kids who are now "out" (on Facebook generally), they were all intelligent and eloquent. One is now a news reporter, and most of them could have written something like that. The letter is from a troubled, gay, eloquent teenager who was probably into literature and had seen psychiatrists.

I agree with you. The kids I went to school with in the 70's who are now "out" were very smart kids, creative, well-spoken and more introspective than their peers. The note does seem to make sense when read in light of the young man being gay in the 70's.

I wonder if his comment about "break and shatter by violence" might refer to his concerns over being beaten up or abused in some way if his sexual preference became known.

He also would have faced the draft, and the prospect of being a gay man in the military could have concerned him as well.

"I am a bomb of frustration and should never marry or have children. It is safest to diffuse the bomb harmlessly now. I do not want to bother with being a 'reformed and cured' person limping through life. I am this self-centered."

I wonder if he was eventually cremated, as he wished, or if his remains were interred pending possible future identification? I saw one source that said he was buried, but I'm not sure if it's correct.

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This case is very interesting. My first thought in reading the information was that the person could possibly have been a pedophile - hence the should "never marry or have children". The thought that one of the parents could be involved was intriguing. It prompted me to consider that the young man could have been abusing someone and it was discovered.

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My impression of this young man's writings makes me wonder about schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Something about it leads me to believe he was intelligent but suffered from some sort of mental condition which led him to believe he should never marry (and subject another person to his problems) or have children (and risk passing on his condition to a child). Whatever the cause, he definitely was suffering horribly from anguish over it, horribly enough to feel like the world was better off without him. On the other hand, I think one of the reasons teens commit suicide is because they have difficulty imagining a future time when their current problem will no longer be a problem. For instance, being heartbroken or troubled severely over something that they believe will never get better. I remember how dramatic things felt as a teenager, like I was the only person in the world who ever had their heart broken quite so badly & like it would never get better, when really all it took was a few months & something new in life to take my mind off it.
Such a sad situation & somewhere in the world are parents who loved this child dearly & never knew what happened to him.

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I wondered about the suicide note, too - it seems so mature for a 16-17 year old boy. That is why I've wondered about the age of John Doe , and if he might have been older than originally stated.

I wish we had some way of knowing the condition of John Doe's feet - he was shoeless and from what I've read, no shoes were found. Obviously if he had walked far, his feet would be scratched, cut, dirty.

The place where he hanged himself was not remote, but it was off the beaten path a little. If John Doe was not from the area, then the question arises as to how he got there and how he knew about the place. Perhaps he lived in the area in the past, or had relatives in the area.

The reason I rule out murder is that the suicide note is detailed regarding John Doe's feelings about not fitting in; his parents providing all the advantages; implications of past psychiatric care - how would the murderer know that the info he put in the suicide note would apply to his victim? John Doe might have been identified, at which time his family would read the suicide note and would have been able to tell if it sounded totally unlike anything John Doe had ever said or written before. And how would a murderer know John Doe wasn't an orphan, or estranged from his family - the note sounds like John Doe cared about his parents and wanted them not to feel blame.

I think if someone killed John Doe, it would be more likely he/she would have written a brief "good-bye cruel world" type of note.

I couldn't agree with you more. You said exactly what I have felt for a long time. Also when discussing Emile Durkheim (I used to use him a lot, especially in my Graduate thesis so I am very familiar with his works). In an earlier post it mentions he was a Pshycologist (can't think of correct spelling) but the person who posted didn't mention his famous study on suicide. This study was mentioned a lot while I was in college (by the way I have a Masters in Sociology and its the polar oppose of Phycology in many ways) and have always considered Durkheim a sociologist and father of education, instrumental in creating education/school system in France. I can see Durkheims influence in his letter. I've read his work on suicide and can see how his writing influenced the victim. As far as the posts stating this writing is too complex for someone so young, I disagree. I myself wrote very complex papers as a young teenager, way more deep and complex then anything I'd be capable of writing today. In school my papers were often read aloud even in grad school but can't see myself today writing anything worth reading. I don't doubt this is a suicide.

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I agree with some of the above posters. On reading some of the details of the suicide note I immediately thought "homosexual". Back then homosexuality was not accepted as it is now. Maybe he was told he was "deviant", "abnormal" etc; etc; to the point where he believed he was. Maybe his parents sent him to a phychiatrist to try to "cure" him. This also explains in why he felt he could never live a normal life as he would feel he had to hide this part of himself and could never truly be himself. Also explains why he felt he could never marry or have children.

Surely someone somewhere misses this poor guy! This case has me intrigued and I wish there was more information out there.

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This case is very interesting. My first thought in reading the information was that the person could possibly have been a pedophile - hence the should "never marry or have children". The thought that one of the parents could be involved was intriguing. It prompted me to consider that the young man could have been abusing someone and it was discovered.

Wish we could find out more info.

I thought this too. I was rereading this thread today and immediately thought of an episode of SVU where a teenage boy turned himself in to the police because he had thoughts about molesting his stepbrother. He wanted to be stopped and given help before it happened. Maybe John Doe had feelings like that and thought this was the only way to prevent him doing harm to anybody.

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I found another small article at the link below relating to this case from April 3rd 1975 about a Charles Wallace was who missing and his mother viewing this John Doe to see if it was Charles. Obviously it wasn't but I hope he was found..

Maybe it was written by one of the parents. I know, that thought is way out there, but when I first read the letter, it sounded to me like there was sooooo much emphasis on "not blaming the parents for his death". Why would someone do that and the reference to "being given all the advantages" and "psychiatric care"? Could it be one of the parents did him in, as they were frustrated with whatever behavior they were trying to "fix" for him, after years of giving him all the advantages and care they could? Particularly if it was some behavior that the parent(s) just could not tolerate and caused them to feel shamed or ridiculed by. Terrible thought, but I do wonder if any foul play was totally ruled out. I just find that note really odd.

I'm not sure about that; [IMHO] sometimes parents or close relatives can make a person feel extremely guilty about things (or also like the world is going to stop over a minor infraction), especially when people are teenagers.

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Found another small article from June 1975 which mentions more than 300 parents of missing sons contacting the Sheriff's office with several coming to examine the body, however with no identification, he was buried in an unmarked grave.....

Found another small article from June 1975 which mentions more than 300 parents of missing sons contacting the Sheriff's office with several coming to examine the body, however with no identification, he was buried in an unmarked grave.....

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I can't believe that I don't remember this incident. I would've been about the same age as the victim at the time. Even as a teenager, I read the newspaper everyday and kept up with the news. A local story like this would've made a big impression on me.

With a nationwide search, it's strange that his parents didn't identify him. Unless they did after he was buried. There's a large naval air station in Belle Chasse, so I wonder if he was part of a military family. Maybe they were stationed here at some point, but transferred, and the boy returned. Just a thought. Anyway, when I'm on vacation next week, I might go to the library and look up the original story on microfiche.

__________________________________Muddy water in the street; Muddy water 'round my feet... as sung by the inimitable Bessie Smith, "Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)"

I just read this whole thread. This case is so sad. This boy must of been in so much pain. I believe he was probably gay and he thought suicide was his only way out. There seems to be so much of that going on these days. Such a waste.

This seems like a case that should be reopened due to the horrible rash of gay or troubled and bullied teen suicides these days. I'm sure it would get a lot of press and stir up new leads.

I have no idea what this young man looked like. Was a description ever given? Maybe I just missed it. It would make it so much easier to match him up to a missing person. Is it odd that none of the articles have a description? Or again maybe I just missed something.

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Has this young man be indentified? I am very interested in learning more about him.I do think he was gay and he felt the world would be better off without him.He would have made a wonderful teacher! The fact he had no shoes and they were never found,is strange!!
Does anyone know where I can read the whole note he left behind? TIA
This young man is not on NamUs!!

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Does anyone have a contact in Louisiana that can check on this? I can't find any information except old news articles. If he was never identified, it would be good to get his info in Namus. We don't have any good characteristics on him either, so getting that information would help as well. Who knows....maybe this one has been solved.

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There's something very odd here.
Did he have a bag with the bedsheet in ? or did he just walk about carrying a bed sheet ? somebody must have seen that surely. Also, the fact he didn't have shoes on, were they left in a taxi perhaps ? or did he hide them because they were handmade and traceable ?
Just a few rambling thoughts.

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Does anyone have a contact in Louisiana that can check on this? I can't find any information except old news articles. If he was never identified, it would be good to get his info in Namus. We don't have any good characteristics on him either, so getting that information would help as well. Who knows....maybe this one has been solved.

I hope it has been solved although an article posted earlier stated he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Gretna county of Louisiana. I think it would likely be Westlawn Memorial Park, as the map shown here on Find a Grave shows it is close to Belle Chasse - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...=cr&CRid=69276

There are contact details there but I don't know if they would be able to confirm anything to non-family. I hope he was claimed. I often see this case pop up on page 1 and hope it's news that he was claimed.

I sent an e-mail to the Plaquemines LA police department today to see if they can provide info. When I tried to get info a couple of years ago, I was more or less told that no one cared about an old case like this one. Hopefully I'll reach someone more receptive!!